As designers, we are to be agents of positive change. At HHA, we believe sustainability is a key principle of how we design, build and inhabit spaces. As environmental pressures have intensified, architects have been challenged to rethink traditional practices to minimize the ecological footprint of a built environment. At its core, sustainability in architecture is about reducing impact and reusing what we have on hand.

For this reason, throughout the process of relocating to a new office building, sustainability has been deeply intertwined into our design process. Sustainability isn’t only something we design for, it’s something we actively live. We recognize that sustainability extends beyond our projects and into our daily lives.

Sustainability in architecture can be associated with new technologies, high-performance materials and energy-efficient systems. However, just as important is the choice to reuse and repurpose what we already have. Sustainability is about making intentional choices at every scale, including objects we interact with daily. As we made decisions for our new office design, we saw an opportunity to put our values into action. We made a conscious choice to bring our existing furniture with us, choosing to reduce waste. Additionally, most new furniture was sourced vintage, giving those pieces a second life.

When selecting new finishes for the office, we prioritized staying mindful about environmental impact. The Felt Right acoustic wall panels, which have been installed throughout the office, are made with sustainability at the core. The panels are crafted using recycled PET, reducing plastic waste and supporting circular design practices. However, sustainability isn’t only a consideration in manufacturing practices – the felt panels have a thirty-year lifespan and at end-of-life, they are 100% recyclable.

As an office, we are committed to practicing sustainability in our daily lives. We encourage recycling of paper and plastic products, utilization of take-back and donation programs for unused materials, limiting printing, and usage of reusable dishware. These practices significantly reduce waste. Occupancy sensors and daylighting sensors have been installed throughout the office so we can reduce energy consumption. Additionally, we run office-wide ‘green challenges’ so we can continue to educate and raise awareness about sustainable, circular practices.

Installation of our new acoustic panels in the main office space and in the zoom conference room.

Over 12 million tons of furniture and furnishings are discarded annually in the US. Intentional choices, such as reusing furniture instead of replacing it, can be a meaningful act within a larger system. As a collective, we must reshape our relationship with overconsumption. It is important to see value in not just the new, but in resilient and long-lasting design. We must pivot from a linear economical model to a circular economy. The linear economy follows a one-way ‘take-make-dispose’ model. Within this system, raw materials are extracted, manufactured into products, used and then discarded as waste. This leads to single-use resource consumption, short product life cycles and high waste output. In contrast, a circular economy is closed-loop system which aims to reduce, reuse, repair and recycle. This system focuses on designing out waste and pollution, keeping products in use and regenerating natural systems.

Sustainability is often less about grand gestures and more about reshaping our mindsets. We may choose to pause before discarding something and ask, “How could this serve another purpose? How can I make this last a little longer?” We must adopt a reimagination, a willingness to repair and to adapt.